Probably Beardoh’s best night of sleep on the trail last night. He didn’t wake up once through the night. He tried just using his head net for bug protection as he headed towards sleep.
Got up at the usual time and with Sweetpea’s typical leisurely packing, we got on the trail around 6:45. The light was beautiful on the mountain banks surrounding Susie Lake…nice orange and pink hues. The first hour or so was more of walking was like that with incredible light and stillness on the lakes. The water was like glass and so made a perfect reflection of the surrounding mountains. It was very beautiful and just felt very peaceful. We passed by multiple people camping along the lake and even several people out fishing early in the morning.
The trail seemed to get rockier as we got closer to Echo Lake. The two lakes were so long it felt like it took forever to walk to the end of it. Along the Echo Lakes, there were many small cabins built along the shore and only accessible by boat. It seemed like they had been there for years and some had been updated quite nicely. What a great summer spot to have! When we got to the Echo Lake store, after 9 miles for the day, we got an ice cream and a soda and sat down to talk with some PCT hikers.
After awhile, we continued on to Highway 50 to try for a hitch into South Lake Tahoe. Within our final miles, we ran into an Israeli that was pretty entertaining to talk with. We later learned that this was Roni from Israel….a guy who has hiked a lot over the US and is known in the hammocking community as one of the first people to hammock the PCT.
It is always funny how a trek ends so abruptly. We had a great time on the trail and really enjoyed being back out in the woods. We got a hitch into South Lake Tahoe and stayed at the Matterhorn Hotel, which is alright. It is very far from the State Line…but there is cheap Chinese food here and a laundromat close…and even a little grocery store.
We met Carnivore and Purple for dinner down near the casinos. We had a real nice time catching up with them….hearing about their PCT journey this far. Beardoh thinks their journey is quite a bit different than what he experienced two years ago…just getting on and off the trail for weeks affects things. Talked about a lot of things, the AZT being one of big interest to us as we think of that trail for next spring. Will probably stay with them if we go for that trail in March.
Daily Miles: 10 miles
Total Miles: 172.6 miles
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